11/03/15 11/03/15 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! in a stunning announcement, transcanada suspends its request for u.s. permit to build the keystone xl pipeline. are they betting on a more supportive white house in 2017? we will speak to bill mckibben of 350.org. health insurance industry opens enrollment, it is the end for many health care co-ops, leaving hundreds of thousands scrabbling to find coverage.

health care co-ops, which were supposed to offer a nonprofit alternative to private insurance, have essentially been strangled by the private insurers and by congress. 10 out of the 23 have are to close many more are expected to close in the next few months or years. they will probably never viable long term. it was a little like the peewee football he going against the nfl. amy: we will speak with dr. steffie woolhandler as well as the head of the colorado co-op that is going under, and insurance whistleblower wendell potter on why health care co-ops are failing. in a new documentary reveals why the u.s. has become on of the leading tax shelters of the superrich. >> we are the 99%. we are the 99%. invest int money to our country, to invest in

people, and their not doing it anymore. as a nurse, i would say they're probably mentally ill. it is not normal to hoard all that money. >> require us to pay in the u.k., we pay 6 million -- >> we're not accusing you of being illegal, we are accusing you of being immoral. amy: we will speak with harold crooks and james henry about, "the price we pay." all of that and more coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the united nations says more than 200,000 refugees and migrants crossed in new york last month, the highest monthly total on record. more people made the dangerous crossing in october than in all of last year. over the course of the single day last month, more than 10,000 people arrived in greece. un officials said the record flow is expected to continue next year amid upheaval in syria, afghanistan, iraq and elsewhere.

president obama has made his first public comments on his decision to deploy u.s. special operations forces to syria. speaking on nbc's nightly news , he defends his decision. >> we have run special ops already, and really, this is just an extension of what we're continuing to do. we are not putting u.s. troops on the front lines fighting firefights with isil. but i have been consistent throughout that we are not going to be fighting like we did in battalions and occupations. that doesn't solve the problem. amy: the israeli military has shut down every of station in the occupied west bank, destroying equipment, confiscating transmitters, and accusing the station of inciting violence against israelis.

the radio station director told the associated press "we did not incite, we just reported the israeli daily crimes against our people in hebron. they want to silence our violence." on monday, a 22-year-old palestinian was shot dead after israeli authorities accused him of stabbing and seriously wanting in israeli man in the coastal city. hours earlier, a 19-year-old palestinian was arrested for stabbing and wounding three people near tel aviv. the corporation by the keystone xl oil pipeline has asked the obama administration to suspend its long-running review of the controversial project. on monday, transcanada told the state department wants to wait until nebraska gives its approval, but critics say transcanada is trying to buy time until president obama leaves office. we will speak to bill mckibben, founder of 350.org, after headlines. president obama has announced a

series of steps to help release prisoners -- released prisoners readjust to society. speaking during a visit to a treatment center in newark, new jersey, obama said he was banning the box -- barring federal agencies from asking potential employees about their criminal records on job applications. >> the federal government, i believe, should not use criminal history to screen out applicants before we even look at their qualifications. we can't dismiss people out of hand complete because of mistakes they made in the past. amy: over the past few days, the obama administration has released more than 6000 federal prisoners early, marking the largest one-time release from federal prison in history. president obama signed a two-year bipartisan budget deal averting a potential default and raising the debt limit until after he leaves office. the deal boosts military spending caps while cutting social security disability benefits and medicare payments. new revenue would come from sales of u.s. oil reserves and

the use of public airwaves by telecommunications firms. the pentagon spent nearly $43 million on a gas station in northern afghanistan. a u.s. special inspector general says the obama administration has not explained why it spent so much taxpayer money on the project. the station was built as part of an effort to show cars in afghanistan could run on compressed natural gas. the pentagon says it lacks torsonnel, expertise" address questions about $43 million price tag. iraqi politician ahmed chalabi, who played a key role in pushing for the 2003 u.s. invasion of iraq, has died at the age of 71. chalabi was the former head of the iraqi national congress, a cia-funded iraqi exile group that helped drum up pre-war claims that saddam hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction and had links to al-qaeda. chalabi provided bogus intelligence to the bush administration, u.s. lawmakers and journalists. , as recently as last year, chalabi was seen a possible candidate for iraqi prime minister.

during a visit to new york in 2005, he denied his role in the iraq war. a casefact i perpetuated for war based on weapons of mass destruction is an urban myth, which is not rooted in reality and it continues to have a life of its own despite the very serious investigations that were conducted by bipartisan bodies of the united states government such as the senate intelligence committee. he provided the iraqi sources to journalists and congressmen who said saddam hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction and had links to al qaeda come all of which turned out to be false. former advisers have said they raised major doubts about the sources, but were ignored. ahmad chalabi died today at his home in baghdad of a heart attack. he was 71. the state department says it's

launched a review after video showed a u.s. security agent helping oust a report from the meeting between secretary of state john kerry and uzbekistan president islam karimov. during the meeting in uzbekistan, reporter carol morello, asked a question about the u.s. critique of uzbekistan's human rights record. she was then removed from the room by u.s. and uzbek agents. >> mr. president, would you take a question? the state department is criticizing human rights -- >> take her out now. amy: harvard law school professor lawrence lessig has ended his campaign for the democratic presidential nomination after the democratic national committee changed the rules for the debates. lessig launched his campaign after raising $1 million in a month. he said if he won the presidency, he would serve only as look as it took to pass sweeping campaign finance reform. but in a video message, lessig said new rules would exclude him from next week's debate.

>> until this week, the role was three polls finding me at 1% in the six weeks prior to the debate. last week, we began to get close, to the polls family at 1%, one more and i would be in the second debate. under the original rule. that under the new role, the standard is three polls at least six weeks before the debate. that means i would've had to qualified at the beginning of october, which means that nothing that happens now could matter. under this new role, i'm just shut out. amy: efforts by republican presidential campaigns to control the format of the debate appeared to have collapsed after a number of campaigns refused to sign a list of demands for tv networks. republican candidates donald trump, carly fiorina, new jersey governor chris christie, and john kasich all refused to sign a letter detailing terms for future debates. the short-lived revolt after last week cnbc debate had kitted

the campaigns against the republican national committee. in a victory for transgender rights federal officials have , determined an illinois school district violated the anti-discrimination law title ix by preventing a transgender girl from showering and changing without restrictions in the girls' locker room. the student was forced to use private facilities instead. the palatine, illinois school district could lose title ix funding if it doesn't change its policies. in south africa, four police officers have been arrested for murder after video showed them shooting a suspected robber on the ground. cctv footage appears to show an officer shooting the khulekani mpanza at close range after he drops his gun and falls to the ground. another officer then kicks mpanza. the officers were arrested after media outlets published the footage. the father of one of the 43 students missing in mexico has run the new york city marathon to raise awareness about his son's case. antonia tizapa ran sunday along

with amado tlatempa, another relative of the students, who have been missing for more than a year following an attack by local police in the state of guerrero. on the night of september 26, 2014, six people were killed, including three students and 43 other students were disappeared. government claimed a 43 students were killed by a drug gang and incinerated. after an expert panel questioned that account for the mexican government has reopened the investigation. speaking after the marathon sunday, antonio tizapa said he hoped to use running as a way to call for his son to be returned alive. >> in the world of sports, i think a large percentage of people are not focused on political issues. so if you do something sports related, they're one of the attention. anything related to sports. so that is why wanted to do this through sports and through athletics, which is something so marvelous for people who run and also a way to catch people's attention.

and see that a father of one of the 43 boys is running, demanding the return of his son and the other boys alive and justice for the three boys who are dead. amy: it's election day today as voters across the united states cast their ballots on local races and ballot initiatives. among the key issues at stake are campaign finance measures in maine and seattle washington an , initiative to legalize marijuana for both medical and personal use in ohio and a , proposal in san francisco to limit short-term rentals, a possible blow to the homesharing website airbnb. on the eve of the vote monday, housing activists occupied airbnb's san francisco headquarters, saying the firm's model fuels gentrification and homelessness. and a correction to an earlier headline about the west bank radio station shut down by the israeli military, the actual quote from the radio station director to the associated press was "we didn't insight, we just reported the israeli daily crimes against our people in

hebron. they want to silence our voice." and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the corporation by the keystone xl oil pipeline has asked the obama administration to suspend its long-running review of the controversial project. on monday, transcanada told the state department it wants to wait until nebraska, a state along the pipelines route, gives its approval will stop critics say transcanada is trying to buy time until president obama leaves office. after multiple delays, obama has promised to decide on keystone before the end of his second term. the project has emerged as a political flashpoint with defenders calling it a boost to the economy and opponents warned of a devastating impact on the planet. the proposed pipeline would transport 830,000 barrels of crude every day from alberta's oilsands to refineries in the u.s. gulf coast for export.

in a 2013 speech, president obama said his decision will turn on assuring it does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution. since then, there's been growing speculation obama will ultimately reject the keystone xl post up the pipeline has faced years of sustained protest from groups including indigenous communities, environmentalist, and land owners along its route. it is unclear if you administration will grant transcanada its delay. if it does, the decision on keystone xl would be pushed until after the 2016 election and possibly handed the president obama's successor which has led many to spec and they transcanada is throwing a held marry in the hopes the next white house occupant is a republican. for more we're joined by miller -- bill mckibben, co-founder of 350.org. organize has helped major protest outside the white house, including an historic act of civil disobedience in august

2011 when he and more than 1200 others were arrested. to democracy back now. talk about the significance of transcanada saying they want to fullback the request for a permit from the state department. >> thank you, amy. look, remarkable moment, really. since you're one of the screw reporters covering the story early on, you will remember -- one of the few reporters covering the story early on, you will render transcanada was so confident, they began to mow the very along the pipeline. it was a done deal and it has become spectacularly undone ever since. this was the final tossing and of the towel. they know they cannot get approval out of the obama administration. so they want to avoid actually being outright rejected. in literal terms, it probably doesn't make much difference if

republican get elected, they can call it something else. triple happiness for american patriots pipeline or something and get going all over again. this is a remarkable victory for the remarkable coalition led by indigenous people, farmers and ranchers, climate scientists, faith communities. the good news, really above all about it, it is a victory not confined to this particular pipeline. a couple of weeks ago, the head of one of the big fossil fuel industry trade groups gave a speech in which he said to his colleagues, we simply have to figure out a way to stop the every fossilon of fuel project. around the world there is not a single major fossil fuel project that does not meet with resistance of some kind in increasingly that resistance is successful. keystone was one of the birthplaces of that resistance

we continue to want the president to give it the official know, the fact that transcanada has given up is, well, it was a big night last time. amy: they didn't just end it there, transcanada did not just say they were ending the pipeline, they want a delay in the permit process. what they want the state department to grant them a timeout for the next couple of years and then -- amy: they say to get nebraska's approval for the route. >> obviously, all they want is a different president. and even if the president does what he should do and reject the pipeline outright right now, they will still be able to start again with a new president should we be unwise enough to elect one of their favorite candidates. what would be good would be for the president to rightly deny the pipeline, mostly, because it would then allow him to go after this cares climate conference

with some real credibility as the first world leader who stopped a big fossil fuel project because of its effect on climate. but as far as this pipeline getting built, think about it. a done deal in 2011, now, at least through 2017, there is no pipeline. people coming together have stopped for six years 800,000 barrels a day of the dirtiest being taken from out of the ground. in the course of doing that, they have made like honest impossible for the big companies up in a tar sands who have withdrawn tens of billions of dollars worth of capital from expansion projects. this is one of the great environmental victories in decades. as i say, the reason it is so important is because it is the gift that keeps on giving. it gives us all faith we can keep mounting these kinds of

battles. as long as we display the same kind of unity and purpose that we displayed here. amy: could the state department just ignore the request for a delay or turn it down and president obama just turned down the keystone xl? >> the state department should say, no camino what? udo could ask for extra innings when you are behind at the end of 9. we have our he said the way we're going to make this decision, this is what obama and the state department have said, are on climate grounds, not on the grounds of the route through nebraska. clearly, the route through nebraska isn't going to change the amount of carbon this thing force and the atmosphere. they are well within their rights, in fact, they obviously should simply say, no. who knows whether they will have the courage to do that or not. it will commute -- we will continue to ask them to, 350.org and many other groups sent out letters last night asking people to remind the administration that they still have a rolled up

play here. but let's be serious, this was never really about the power of the administration. this was about the power of organized people to come together and change the script, and that is what has happened. amy: bill mckibben, thank you for being here, speaking to us from your home in vermont. bill mckibben is co-founder of 350.org. this is democracy now! when we come back, why are hundreds of thousands of people who signed up for health insurance scrambling now because their health care insurance companies, actually co-ops, are going under? stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: neil young, "mother earth." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. open enrollment has begun in the health exchanges created under the affordable care act for uninsured americans. but this year, many shopping for coverage find themselves without their most affordable choice -- independent, non-profit co-operatives. the co-ops were founded to offer a cheaper alternative after democrats stopped demanding a public option. but since going live three years ago, the co-ops have faced major cutbacks from the republican-controlled congress. the gop has slashed funding by more than half, and stopped the obama administration from helping offset the unexpected high costs of covering sicker beneficiaries. now the system is faltering with at least eight health insurance co-ops shutting down. a turning point came last month when all exchange providers were told the federal government would only pay them a small percentage of what they were expecting.

the co-op closures have left some 500,000 people without insurance and a marketplace of fewer choices and higher prices. it's the kind of scenario that advocates of a single-payer system warned about from the outset -- with obamacare relying on for-profit insurance companies to provide coverage, the market will find a way to squeeze out those who need it most. for more we are joined by three guests. dr. steffie woolhandler is a primary care physician, professor in the cuny school of public health at hunter college and co-founder of physicians for a national health program where she has been a vocal advocate for single-payer. wendell potter, a former insurance executive turned whistleblower and senior analyst on healthcare at the center for public integrity. and we go to denver to julia hutchins, chief executive officer of colorado healthop, a consumer-directed, non-profit health cooperative in colorado. last month, state regulators

forced colorado healthop to shut down, saying it isn't in strong enough financial shape to pay out its members' claims. colorado healthop tried to challenge the closure but was , denied. welcome to democracy now! in new york, there are well over 200,000 people who have insurance under what is called health republic, one of these health care co-ops. suddenly, last friday, to the shock of many -- even people working within the system -- they were told that this health care co-ops will close by the end of the month. that is november. that is before you can even get coverage and is open enrollment period. the next time is generally first. so they have to sign up twice. right now to fill the gap through the end of december, and then because of i.t. issues,

they can't just sign up now and get the insurance from now on in another company, they have to sign up now until the end of december and sign up within the open enrollment period, like a day later, forgetting insurance in january. over 200,000 people are out of insurance. >> yes -- amy: just in new york. have of the 23 co-ops closed and several more are expected to close soon. these nonprofit co-ops, many of us felt they were never going to be viable. these tiny insurance co-ops was like the peewee football going against the nfl. they just did not have the size to make it in the marketplace. but also, they were not cheaters and the wood health insurance market works is good guys finish last and cheaters win. the way you make a killing in the health insurance market is by signing up lots of healthy people am a collecting as high of premiums as possible, and giving them as little care as possible. if they get sick, figuring out

ways to force them out of insurance. that is the way the u.s. insurance market works. the small nonprofit co-ops were not very good at playing the game, many did not want to play that game, so we're not surprised they went under. the only way to ensure population that has worked is through some form of nonprofit national health insurance. that is what every other developed nation uses. then you have everybody in what in, nobodyeveryone out. amy: we will talk about single payer now moment. wendell potter, can you go back to when the affordable care act was being debated and what was promised and what you said at the time? now, you worked in several insurance companies. you worked for aetna, top executive, as well as -- >> humana and cigna. amy: talk about what you are saying then. you were a whistleblower back in 2009. that, as you was

may remember, the public option was being proposed and had quite a bit of support in congress. but over in the senate, the senate finance committee and particular, max baucus, who is chairing the committee at the time, put together what came to be called the gang of six. three republicans and three democrats that he handpicked. he chaired this little group with the idea, the hope, that some bipartisan legislation or reform legislation could be crafted and passed. it was a full's aaron from the beginning, obviously, but out of that, senator conrad, democrat of north dakota, proposed instead of the public option, congress should authorize funding to create these co-ops. i wrote at the time that it would be great if we had a world in which those co-ops could succeed, but it was just sheer folly to think -- and fantasy to

think that could happen. it is because largely of what steffie said, they would have to to be with these very large for-profit insurance companies like the ones i used to work for. i know at the barriers to entry in any market in this country, what those barriers are. they are very, very high. unless you have incredible capitalization, they're just not going to succeed. i testified before senate panel, congressional panel, a few weeks after that that if congress passed legislation without a public option, they might as well call with a ultimately passed the health insurance profit protection and enhancement act. that is exactly what has happened. since the affordable care act when into effect, the for-profit insurance companies have thrived. their stock prices more than tripled. in some cases, quadrupled. while the co-ops have been starved of funding, have not been able to overcome those barriers. as we know, many of them are closing and leaving a lot of people in the lurch. amy: julia hutchins, you were

the ceo of the colorado health op. tell us how many people you served, when you were established, and what has happened in the last period. >> we were established through this program over the co-op program under the affordable care act and today we still serve 80,000 coloradans through the end of the year. amy: tell us what happened. it was a story, maybe an old story of politics and fear, certainly the program, part of a bipartisan compromise, may be one of the only programs in the affordable care act that really addressed competition and the need to make health insurance affordable for people. we talk a lot about access to care, but access to care comes at a cost. we are -- if the roles had stayed the same, which they never do, we would still be here. but through continued cuts by

congress and then at the and, i mean, where was obama -- where is obama now. at a time when the big insurance companies are getting bigger, what this country needs is solutions they keep health care local and that really engage people in their own health care and provide options for personalized care. the co-op program is still around. -- it wasit lost politically orphaned in the process, it is still a strong foundation to build from. amy: so what do people do? how do get in touch with them to tell them that their health insurance has ended? is it possible they will miss it? >> it is. we are done everything we can. we of been very vocal and even before we closed, our members were up in arms. we had over 500 people write to congress in one day. and have been doing everything we can to make sure people know.

we do worry about, as a gets closer to the end of the year, that there are people who are in the hospital or in treatment programs and that they're focused on her health and other health insurance, and a lot of our efforts as we close out the year are making sure we find those people and help them transition to something else. and help them keep coverage. that is one of the beautiful things about the co-op program regardless of where we sit today, we were the ones hitting the streets and talking about the value of coverage and getting people insured. in some ways, we were a cheap way to do that. ,my: dr. steffie woolhandler you're smiling as you hear that. >> well, i think we're going to need a national financing system. we can certainly have local control of health care. in fact, the national financing system would give people their free choice of hospitals or doctors which is seleka's local

control. but i do think we're going to need a single-payer nationally based financing to make this work. amy: do you see that at all happening? and this goes to the issue of single-payer. where is the state of the movement today? you have the republicans theyking obamacare, saying would like to see it and as one of the number one issues so they let go a little bit saying it is unrealistic as millions of people have been insured in the health care system is now completely revolved around the affordable care act. amy: the affordable care act is the new status quo and it is completely inadequate. we still have 33 million people uninsured, even when fully implement it with affordable care act within have 25 million uninsured. that is unacceptable. tens of millions more are getting these plans that are really underinsured with huge copayments and adoptable's,

meaning they pay for the insurance and they still can't afford care. -- the dr. bowles, meaning they pay for the insurance and they still can't afford care. we need single-payer. i was just at the national meeting of physicians for national health program and we had hundreds and hundreds of people in chicago. the students were there. they formed 52 new middle school chapters of physicians for national health program in the last year. there was a large health now meeting, which is the nonphysician organization sponsored by the steelworkers union and the national nurses union. with hundreds of non-physician activist they're committed to single-payer. we know we have a ways to go, but we are on our way to really building a movement that will get americans a single-payer health system that they deserve. single-payer works because you say $400 billion in year in administrative cost. you can take that money and

improve care for everyone. that is what we need. amy: in december 2009, during the debate over the affordable care act, vermont senator bernie sanders advocated for a single payer system. this is what he said. >> what is the answer? well, i don't think anyone has a perfect answer, but i do think that the united states should be looking at other countries around the world. why do we end up spending so much and get relatively poor value for what we are spending? and i think would we do that, when we look at countries throughout europe to scandinavia, canada and so forth, i think it leaves one to the conclusion that if we are serious about providing quality, affordable care to all americans in a cost-effective way, then we must move toward what many of us call a medicare for all single-payer program. now, i understand, as i think many people do, that because of the power of the insurance

companies and the drug companies and the medical equip and suppliers, because of their campaign contributions, because of their lobbying, the truth of the matter is that a single-payer program has never been on the table from day one, since this whole discussion began. very,think that that is very unfortunate. amy: that is democratic presidential candidate bernie sanders. republican presidential candidate donald trump also spoke about how he supports a single-payer health care. >> as far single-payer, it works in canada. it works incredibly well in scotland. he could have worked in a different age, which is the age you're talking about here. what i would like to see is a private system without the artificial lines around every state. i have a big company with thousands and thousands of employees. if i'm negotiating in new york or new jersey or in california, i have one bidder. nobody can bid. you know why echo the insurance companies are making a fortune

because have control of the politicians. with the exception of the politicians on this stage. but they have total control of the politicians. they're making a fortune. get rid of the artificial lines and you will have yourself great plans. and then we have to take care of the people who can't take of themselves. i will do that to a different system. >> hang on one second. >> newsflash, the republican party has been fighting against the single-payer system for a decade. i think you're on the wrong side of this if you're still arguing for single-payer. >> i don't think you heard me. you're having a hard time tonight. and ahat was donald trump little bit of rand paul. donald trump in the first fox presidential debate. before that, bernie sanders. your response to this, wendell potter? >> well, i think senator sanders is exactly right. such a shame that commerce did not give serious consideration to single-payer in a began debate on health care reform.

he is right, too, we should of work -- looked at what works and other countries, but we didn't. we only look at what we currently have. expertalth policy reinhardt has called it, the afford will care act is in many cases an ugly band-aid on an ugly system. it is not a system that can be sustained. donald trump at a very good point that other countries really like the single-payer system. and in those countries, they spend far less on health care and their outcomes are much better than ours in this country. there is no reason to think the era has passed that we can do that in this country. i think what you're going to be seeing is not just individuals and physicians becoming less and less enchanted with their health care system, but i think you're going to see business leaders become more and more disenchanted as well, too. the affordable care act has put

some insurance reforms in place and brought some people into coverage, but as was said, many of those people are now underinsured and it has not done very much at all to control costs. the private insurance companies -- this is where i think business leaders are finally going to start catching on. private insurance companies cannot control costs. if they could, we would not be in the situation we are in now. so i think we will start seeing a broader coalition of people coming together to support single-payer in the months and years ahead. amy: julia hutchins, do you feel the private entrance industry worked together to try to get your co-op and the other co-ops across the country defunded? >> absolutely. so headsays, we were down, doing the right thing for our members and a populist movement at core, we really underestimated how threatening we were to the existing players in the health care system.

-- this country need something that works for people and for physicians. and that is what health care care is about, about that patient-physician relationship and we're getting farther and farther away from that through big health insurance companies. we don't need mass produced health care, we needed to be local and personalized. amy: we heard in new york this massive health care co-op, health republic, which serves over 200,000 people, would be closing at the end of the year. then suddenly last friday, they announced it would be at the end of the month, which leaves people to sign up twice. who benefits from this? why leave 200,000 people out in the lurch? is it the providers that put pressure, fearing that would get $.50 on the dollar or whatever so the hospitals and the doctors say, no i'm a we want to be paid, so they will be shortchanged, the patient's?

is this a matter of organizing and grassroots activism? >> they need large reserves to do its job and state regulators came in and said you did not have enough reserves. the question is why they did have enough reserves. it is twofold. these were the good guys who were cooperative and were trying to provide people with the care they needed. that is why they were spending more money. that is why they had lower reserves. the second thing is that congress has repeatedly cut the funding to the co-ops so they started with lower reserves and they got -- they missed out on the subsidy that they had been promised to subsidize the care for high-cost patients. so the regulators were just doing their job. you can't run an insurance company without reserves. the question is, why the reserves were so low and the fingerprints of the health-insurance industry are all over this -- they are some of the biggest lobbyists in congress along with the pharmaceutical industry, which

also doesn't want any sort of public nonprofit involvement in the health care system. amy: wendell potter, you talk about the casino effect. what is that? >> the casino effect is, we in this country have to gamble on their lives and with our money. what we are forced to do in this country is, especially if we don't get coverage through the workplace, going through the exchanges to get coverage and make some assumptions about how healthy we are going to be in the coming 12 months. no one can really do that. you can't predict if you're going to come down with a serious disease or get badly injured. but a lot of people just think they're going to continue to have another year of good health. so often, make decisions, bad bets. this is what i call a casino of health insurance. you do get coverage

through the workplace, you're often having to make the same decision because even employers are pushing more and more of their workers into these high to dockable plans with the promise that your premiums might not be as high as they otherwise would be, but you're going to have to pay a lot more money out of your own pocket. most people are just not able to predict, august the, how much money they might need to spend on their health care. so many people, and forcefully, are finding themselves underinsured and only find that out, frankly, when it is too late. in many cases, people who have insurance are still having to go through bankruptcy because of high medical debt. amy: we're going to leave it there but we will continue to cover this issue. i want to thank dr. steffie woolhandler primary care , physician, professor in the cuny school of public health at hunter college. julia hutchins is chief executive officer of colorado healthop.

and thank you so much to wendell potter, former insurance executive. author of, "deadly spin: an insurance company insider speaks out on how corporate pr is killing health care and deceiving americans." this is democracy now! when we come back, the price we pay. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. when it comes to sheltering the wealth of the super-rich, the united states is moving up the ranks. a new study says the u.s. is now the third-most secretive country for offshore finances, trailing only hong kong and switzerland. while recent u.s. laws force banks and other firms to disclose the assets of american citizens, washington has been criticized for failing to share that information with other

countries. the tax justice network says -- "though the u.s. has been a pioneer in defending itself from foreign secrecy jurisdictions, it provides little information in return to other countries, making it a formidable, harmful and irresponsible secrecy jurisdiction." a 2012 study on the offshore economy estimated that wealthy individuals and their families have between $21 trillion and $32 trillion of hidden financial assets around the world in offshore accounts or tax havens. the actual sums could be higher because the study only dealt with financial wealth deposited in bank and investment accounts, and not other assets such as property and yachts. well a new documentary tackles , the issue of tax havens and their cost to the societies losing out on trillions of dollars in revenue. the film is called "the price we , pay." this is the trailer. phones apple inc.

directly or indirectly aoi, asi? >> yes. >> and where is a lot a tax resident? >> it does not have a tax residency. 10% toe talking about 50% of the world's financial wealth basically being invested offshore be on the reach of tax authorities. >> i regard the city of london as the world biggest tax haven. >> can you tell me how one subsidy recoveries of your group are operating in the caymans? >> barclays bank. >> i don't have that number with you me. >> there are 1.62 in dollars book to cayman islands banks. almost none of that is actually in cayman. many politicians have the illusion that the acts they run their country. what actually they run the country within the confines of the global financial system

places them. >> there was a period or have the welfare state and are sensitive conditions in those conditions have changed. >> this contract is broken. >> people did not invest money in services. you look at the state of the roads, there are potholes. >> poverty taxes, water taxes, all these new taxes. >> we're not selling books and making coffee. based on computer science. that is what crates the economic value. >> what does it create? >> kodak has hundreds of thousands of employees, really good solid, middle-class jobs. the new world of photography is instagram, which has 13 employees and sold for $1 billion to facebook. >> businesses die from this industrial revolution. they stop paying taxes and the benefits moved the tax havens. >> at some point, more

inequality is not simply more inequality. it needs another name. people are being expelled from life. >> we are the 99%. to use that money to invest in our country, to invest in people, and they're not doing it anymore. as a nurse i would probably say they are little bit mentally ill. it is not normal to hoard all that money. >> to pay all the taxes you require us to pay in near u.k. -- >> we're not accusing you of being illegal. we are accusing you of being immoral. amy: the trailer for the new documentary, "the price we pay." for more we joined by two guests. harold crooks is the director of the film. james henry is an economist, lawyer, and senior advisor with the tax justice network. he co-authored their 2012 study estimating up to $32 trillion in hidden offshore assets worldwide. he is interviewed in the documentary, "the price we pay." welcome to democracy now! harold, let's begin with you, why you made this film. >> i was approached with the

offer to make the film by a who-known canadian producer had in contacted by a canadian fiscal up skirt -- expert who had written on the imminent collapse of public finances in the western world and they asked me if i would be interested in taking on the project. after i thought about it a bit, i realized that the issue of taxation is actually a land through which we understand power, who has it, who doesn't, and whether the average person of gettingin hell ahead in life. once i had a perspective, i was happy to take on the project. amy: i want to turn to another clip. during a british parliamentary hearing in labour mp chuka 2012, harrison umunna questioned barclays ceo bob diamond about his company's tax practices. >> would you say one of the ways

companies meet the obligations to society is through payment of tax? yes or no? >> i think payment of tax is important responsibility of businesses, yes. >> can you tell me how many subsidiary companies are group uses? >> i don't have that number with me. i would be happy to look into it . >> according to the return last year, you have 30 subsidiaries operating in that jurisdiction. can you tell me how many subsidy recoveries have operating in jersey? >> i don't have that number. >> it is 38. how many subsidiary copies of your group are incorporated in operating the cayman islands? >> same answer. >> 181. all of these are well-known tax havens, which are used by companies in the cursory reading of your group returns shows you have over 300 such copies operating in tax haven just actions around the world.

you will, mr. diamond, if you look up the information, it was a gesture bank is in gauged on tax avoidance on a grand scale. thinkl, i don't know -- i tax evasion is a very clear phrase. it is a space we would never -- >> i didn't use the word. >> i chose the word tax efficiency, which is our obligation, something aligned with government policy. >> your efficiency may be our avoidance. amy: that was the british labor mp questioning the barclays ceo at the time, bob diamond, about barclays tax practices. james henry, you're the former chief economist at mckinsey company, also featured in this film. talk about what they were just speaking about. >> the multinational court -- companies and banks make this point all the time about being legal. you know, that dodges the fact that a lot of this regulatory

business when it comes to corporate tax is very complicated, that these copies are intimately involved in influencing the law, and that essentially, international evolvede tax system has to situation where it is a question of whether you can set up the right subsidiaries in ireland or luxembourg or bermuda, shifting billions of dollars offshore to tax havens. and it is no longer a clear line between tax avoidance and tax evasion. amy: how much money are we talking about the u.s. losing? why should this matter to everyday people who don't use tax havens? thise direct estimate of for at least $100 billion a year lost in tax revenues and u.s. treasury. -- in the u.s. treasury. we're undermining the stability and the development of many countries around the world by essentially being one of the world's largest tax havens. it is very common for wealthy

mexicans were argentinians were brazilians to put their money in new york as opposed to their own countries. we made it a business not only to solicit this money, but also to conceal it and make sure that it is tax free when it gets here. amy: i want to turn to another clip from the film, "the price mpsay," where the labor question amazon's director of public policy andrew cecil. the clip begins with austin mitchell questioning cecil. then labour mp margaret hodge speaks. >> i'm interested in why you pay so little tax corporation tax, particularly, in this country so that we can pay some kind of benefit to all the booksellers you put out a business because undoubtedly, you put a large number of booksellers, some of them local, in my case, out of business? i don't get, friendly, why luxembourg is so lucky? i mean, the books are here, the

warehouses are here, the customers are here. >> we have paid in excess of 100 million in payroll taxes in the last five years. we have paid tens of millions in business rates in the past five years. >> i've heard this argument before. let me kill this argument because it really makes me crosspost up on the one hand, so does every other business. the community-based bookshop that you're putting out of business also pays business -- itcome also pays probably pays in a way you don't, and you are making it uncompetitive. the other thing is, you pay on the services that come out of the taxes you pay. you depend on the ability of your goods around, so you depend on all of those things. and probably worst of all, both you and others employ people on

probably in a moment, if we're lucky, then we, the taxpayer, pick up the taxpayer bill for that, too. putting a lot of money back and you're not putting enough tax into our economy. that is what is railing is all. amy: that is margaret hodge questioning -- interestingly, amazon announcing their opening their first bookstore after putting out of business many actual bookstores around the country, in seattle washington. another clip features margaret hodge and the vice president of google uk, matt brittin. aboutt is different google versus other businesses, we're not selling books or making -- >> [inaudible] >> it is based on computer science. that is what creates the economic value. >> what does it create? amy: that is labor mp margaret hodge and president of google uk, matt brittin.

>> the significance of the interactions is the culmination of the story with which the film begins. the film begins with the ieation of offshore world and will try to do this very, very quickly. we need a historic context for this. the british empire collapses after the second world war. london, which had been the capital of global finance up to that point, needs to find a new way to maintain its position as the capital of global finance. what it begins to do is transform its colonial dependency, particularly in the caribbean and other places, into secrecy jurisdictions or tax havens. that begins in the late 1950's and 1960's. when we get into the 21st century, the high-tech corporations, the major high-tech corporations of the economy like google and amazon, etc., etc., have devised ways

for gaming the system so that they're able to put their most valuable assets -- the patents and intellectual property -- to the technology and book them at a tax havens were nothing is going on. with the result that hundreds of millions, and now, you know, there's this estimate that over $2 trillion of untaxed u.s. corporate profit is booked offshore. well, offshore is really a fiction. it is -- the money is asked a not there. it is merely on a separate set of books in new york or london or paris. the point of all of this, amy, is that the off shoring of the world's wealth is undermining some of the major social innovations of the 20th century. the middle class, social security. these are things that never existed before the first world war.

and they're very, very dependent on a whole interconnected bunch of things -- progressive , to start with -- all of which is being undermined by this offshore world that is now being gamed up to the tune of trains of dollars. any to what you think is most important to do right now? >> we recognize this is a global haven industry that we are fighting, not just an archipelago and there are all kinds of tax reform that we need to put on the agenda going forward, but this is not something that will be made in washington, something that citizens have to get involved in. amy: do you think occupy begin the movement? >> i think it contributed to awareness, but i think we have got to make the focus on tax because otherwise we have essentially these people are becoming citizens of nowhere for tax purposes and they have extraordinary representation

without taxation. amy: we have to leave it there, james henry and harold crooks, thank you for joining us. the film is "the price we pay." ,that does it for our broadcast. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to mail them to democracy no

mail them to (narrator)no toward the end of the first millennium b.c., a complex society sprang to life in mesoamerica-- imaginative, literate, philosophically-inclined and sophisticated. this ever-evolving cture cit out of the primordial forest and sunk its roots into the soil. today, we know the region by its countries-- mexico, honduras, el salvador, belize, and guatemala.